Broken Into Pieces
by River.Run.Red
Summary: She just wanted to enjoy this bliss for a while, because she knew, in the end, she would be the one that shredded it into pieces... (Post Birthmark) Rob/Rae.


**Author's note** : Among the RobRae episodes of the entire series, "Birthmark" has always been my favorite one! I can't even remember how many times I have rewatched it. When Raven fell from the building and Robin caught her in time then embraced her in such a protective manner, I almost squealed in joy. I was looking forward for what happened thereafter, but the producer decided to just skip all the juicy details and moved onto the rest of the episode, freaking leaving us hanging!

Anyway, I kept thinking about what kind of moment they had shared, and then came up with this fanfiction. I hope you like it!

 **Disclaimer:** Is the Teen Titans still up and running with at least 10 seasons? No? That means I do not own the show!

oOo **Broken Into Pieces** oOo

Raven could felt it, the sharp coldness of the night as brushing against her exposed skin as her body plummeted to the hard ground below like a wing-clipped bird. She could hear it, the faint noise of the streets that kept on getting closer, closer by every second. Under her eyelids were darkness, pure darkness, but somehow, she could make out a shape. The shape of the Death itself, circling around her like a vulture watching its prey, waiting for the moment her body hit the ground and broke into pieces.

Raven let out a small, bitter chuckle. She must have lost her mind. Yeah, perhaps that was it. She was falling to a very, very painful death right now, and instead of flying up or teleporting away, all she did was thinking about all kinds of nonsense stuff to the point that she start seeing illusions.

But she couldn't bring herself to move.

What was the point, anyway?

Even if she escaped the clutch of Death this time, soon; it would have her in its grasp again, along with everybody else on the planet.

What she had always been afraid of, what she had tried her best to run away from, what she had done all she could to prevent, just happened minutes ago.

The Prophecy had come true, and it cannot be undone.

Raven knew that sooner or later, she would have to bring the Earth to its downfall. Everybody would have to die, just because of her. Her friends would have to die, just because of her. Because she wasn't strong enough to stop it! If only she had tried harder, if only she had practiced harder, to make herself just a bit stronger, a bit more powerful, then none of this would have happened. It was all because of her, because she was weak.

She was the one at fault, so she had to fix it, right?

She had to make it right again.

There was no other way.

Her life, in exchange for thousands of others.

This way, everybody could still live in peace.

This way, everybody could always be happy.

This way, nobody would have to suffer.

She had to do it.

Raven bit her lips and tightened her eyes, preparing herself for the impact that she knew would soon come. She had to, she had to, she had to, for the sake of everyone else, for the sake of the Earth, for the sake of the universe…

For the sake of her friends…

She had to, even though she didn't want to…

"Goodbye…" Raven whispered, feeling a lone, cold tear slowly trailed down her face.

And that was when she felt her entire body coming to a stop. Her cold skin was pressed into a warm, soothing chest as a broad, wiry arm wrapped around her body, holding her tightly, preventing her from meeting such a painful fate.

She didn't need to open her eyes to know that it was him…

oOo

Robin slowly gathered Raven's body into his arms, feeling his mind overwhelmed with both worry and fear as he took in her condition. Her violet hair had grown much longer, flowing down the concrete pavement and gently waving in the night breezes. One of her arms was dangling to the side, making her look even more lifeless than ever. She had lost her cloak, and almost all of her leotard. The Boy Wonder looked at the shredded pieces of fabric on her pale skin, and he felt his arms shaking as the images of what might have happened crept into his minds. No, it couldn't! It just simply couldn't! Slade was a madman himself, but he wouldn't go that far, right?

 _Right?_

Robin bit his lips as something weighed down on his inside, pulling him down in a sea of both guilt and regret. He should have been there. He should have protected her. If he had got to her sooner, none of this would have happened!

Raven's sudden movement cut him off his inner self-blame. Immediately, his attention was drawn to her. As if on cue, the girl's eyelids fluttered before slowly opening, revealing a pair of exhausted violet orbs. Silent pain was lurking deep inside them, despite her effort to hide it.

Robin felt like hundreds of invisible needles were piercing through his heart, but he tried to remain as calm as possible. Raven was clearly distraught beyond belief; the last thing she needed right now was him going on a rampage about what had happened. He could ask her about it when she had got better. Trying his best to hold himself together, Robin gently flashed the girl in his arm comforting smile before whispering:

"Let's go home."

But she didn't reply or show any sign that she had heard him. She just lay there in his arms, but her eyes seemed so distant. She kept on staring forward blankly, as if lost in thought. Somehow, that sent a wave of chill down Robin's spine. Raven had always been like this, a cold and distant person; her eyes had never shown any kind of emotion. But something about this wasn't right. Her eyes didn't seem to be just emotionless anymore, no, they looked like a void, endless and filled with darkness.

It's almost like she was an empty body with no soul…

"Raven?" He asked again, hoping for a response. The girl still remained in the same spot, motionless. Cold violet orbs never stopped gazing into elsewhere as they seemed to have turned even darker than before. Robin bit his lips, feeling concern slowly overwhelmed his other senses. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she say nor do anything? His eyes instantly shot to the top of the building as a spark of anger burning up inside him. Slade! What kind of sick trick did he make her go through?

Robin tightened his grip on Raven, pulling her closer to his chest as he gritted his teeth, feeling his entire being boiled up in an indescribable fury. That lunatic, psychotic son of a bitch! If they ever met again, he would ensure that…

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Her voice emitted from his arms, so soft that it almost turned into a whisper, completely cutting him off his inner monologue. Before Robin had any time to react, the dark girl had already stood up and moved away from him. No, not moved away, limped away! Her steps were uneven and wavering, as if she hadn't recovered from whatever had happened on that rooftop. She staggered, and when the night breezes passed by them, Robin had almost run to her side and caught her because he afraid that it might knock her down!

"Raven… are you…"

"I'm all right, really, just a bit… dizzy, I guess." Raven whispered again. Her voice was still as emotionless as ever. But something about it was different. Robin didn't know why, but he had a feeling that it was on the verge of break down into pieces. The sound of someone who had lost all will to live, dripping with utter despair, pain, and misery.

"Just go home first. I need some time alone."

Curtly, and sharply. It was more of a command than a request, which chilled Robin to the bone. Never had he heard Raven speak like that. She was always the stoic, calm-and-collected one; the type of people that could never get agitated no matter what. The empath formed a portal and began stepping inside. Somehow, Robin felt his heart leap to his throat when she did that. He didn't know why, but something kept telling him that if he let her go through that black hole, she would be gone forever. Disappeared without a trace. Completely vanished from the world. And he would never get to see her again.

"Raven, wait!"

Terrifying by the thought, Robin did the only thing he could think of: he tackled her! His body disappeared along with hers in the black magic. Robin slightly shivered as the cold "surface" of her dark power touched his skin. Within minutes, the portal reopened, and Robin found himself stumble onto some kind of hard material. He stood up, wiping the dust off his uniform while checking out his surroundings. And that's when he realized Raven had dropped them off on top of the tallest skyscraper in the city.

"I told you to go home, didn't I?"

Raven's dry voice reached his ears. Immediately, Robin turned to where it came from and discovered the dark girl sitting by the edge of the building. Her knees were tucked under her chin, and she was hugging her legs close to herself. The violet locks fell around her face like a curtain, preventing him to see her expression. Looking at her, Robin just felt his heart plummet to his stomach. Raven, one of the bravest and most powerful persons he had ever met, was now shrinking up like a desperate, scared little girl who had just experienced a terrible abuse and didn't know what to do nor where to go.

"I will be fine. I just need some time alone. Just go. I will catch up later."

That's it again, the type of voice she had used when she tried to flee from him just minutes ago. There was nothing wrong with her voice, still that familiar monotone. And it also made perfect sense that she wanted to be by herself. Who wouldn't want that after just a shocking experience, let alone the quiet type like her. But somehow, Robin just felt that something wasn't right. He didn't know why, but he just knew that he couldn't leave her right now. It was like…

It was like she would immediately jump down that edge the moment he left…

Robin didn't know what to do anymore. He clearly couldn't go away. But what should he do right now? What should he say to her? He couldn't just say that everything would be okay when it obviously wouldn't! He couldn't just go there and comfort her either, who knew what kind of wound would that reopen! But he just couldn't leave her sitting there by her own.

Gosh, what should he do now?

The night's breezes gently passed by, and Raven shivered. Her clothes were in shreds now, and there was nothing left to cover her small body. Robin saw that she tried hugging her knees closer as an attempt to keep warm, but failed miserably. She was so small, so fragile, just like the winds could easily snap her into pieces every minute. Raven had always been so strong, but now… Robin bit his lips, feeling his mind turning into a chaos of thoughts.

And finally, he made his decision.

It was probably the dumbest, but giving the current situation, it was the best he could do.

The Boy Wonder walked up to where the dark girl was sitting. He took off his cape, and draped it over her little body, shielding her from the cold breezes of the night. Raven let out a small gasp, completely caught by surprise. Before she could said anything, Robin had already scooped her up into his arms! He lowered himself down onto the floor, positioning her body onto his lap as he gripped her tightly. Raven looked up at him with widened eyes, completely speechless. Robin simply patted her back, before whispering:

"You need this."

"No, Robin, I don't… I…" A second passed, and Raven could finally calm herself down. She tried to move away from him, but he just simply pulled her closer. Raven struggled harder, pushing against his chest with all she got. No, he wasn't supposed to be like this! He should have walked away; he should have gone home and let her be. He wasn't supposed to comfort her! If he was like this, if he went on like this…

How could she let go?

"Raven. Stop. I'm not gonna let you go." Robin shook his head, rubbing her back gently as he gripped her as tightly as possible "Now, I don't know what Slade did to you, and obviously, I don't know what you have gone through. But I'm not leaving you alone." He stopped to lock his masked eyes with her violet ones, forcing her to look at him: "Remember what I have said? I'm willing to try if you let me. I'm not asking you to let me into your mind or anything. I just want you to accept my comfort. No matter what you've been through, I'll try to help you get over it." Robin pushed a strand of hair off Raven's face, inching closer as he spoke the last words: "But will you let me?"

Raven's face was a blank now, but he could see her eyes quivered. Emotions kept on flashing across them nonstop, so fast that he could hardly make out anything. He bit his lips, expecting her to push him away or anything. However, to his astonishment, the dark girl just simply stop thrashing around and buried her face into his chest. Feeling a small smile crept onto his face, Robin gently wrapped his wiry arms around her small, fragile body before cradling her protectively to his chest.

Just like that, they sat there for a while, neither said anything.

"Didn't you say we would go home?"

To Robin's surprise, Raven tiredly looked up from his chest. Her violet orbs filled with exhaustion, eyeing him in a questioned manner. It seemed that she had calmed down a bit. The Boy Wonder flashed her a sly smile, tightening his cape around her petite, worn-out body and pulled her closer. A breeze passed by them, and the dark girl couldn't help but shiver a bit. Robin noticed this for he gripped her tighter than ever, trying his best to keep her unusual cold skin warm.

"I didn't feel like it." He murmured to her hair, pressing a kiss to her temple and tucked her head under his chin. He didn't even know where he got the courage from, and normally, she would have killed him for performing these kinds of acts. But now, none of them bothered to care anymore. She had just been through Hell itself, while he just wanted to soothe her wounded soul with everything he got. "I just wanted to calm my mind for a while before we are flooded with tons of questions. You wanted that too, right?"

His glove hand stroke her slim bare arm, sensing it quiver under his touch. Raven only bit down on her lower lip and closed her eyes, resting her head on his large shoulder. She wouldn't admit it, but she still hadn't got used to the feeling of hands touching her skin. It reminded her of that madman, reminded her of the Hellish images he forced her to go through.

Reminding her of what she would bring upon this Earth…

Raven shook as the horrible memories flooded back into her mind, dragging along all the frightening visions she had witnessed with her very own eyes. Everything would turn into debris, the sun would never rise again, and everybody would become lifeless stones…

Her friends would become lifeless stones.

 _He_ would become lifeless stones…

All because of her!

Robin knew that the empathy was shivering with wide, fearful eyes, but he said nothing. He just simply moved his hand to her silky long violet hair before threading his fingers in the strands and stroked the thick hair at her nape gently. Raven bit her lips. He was comforting her. He was trying to make her feel better. But nothing could be better now. The fateful date when she became the portal would soon come. It was all set in her flesh and blood. Nothing could be changed anymore…

Opening her eyes slowly, Raven reached out to touch her leader's chest, before shaking her head with pain and regret lurking in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you…"

"Raven." Robin interrupted her with a stern voice: "I don't care about that, all right? I wasn't forced into doing this. I wanted to protect you. I had already known what could happen but I still chose to do this. It's my decision to keep you safe, and I never regretted it even a single bit. You have nothing to be sorry for."

 _But I'm going to destroy the world, Robin. I'm going to destroy all of you…_

Raven shook her head and bit her lips. Despite her effort to hold it down, a lone tear still escaped the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. Not wanting Robin to see her moment of weakness, Raven immediately shut her eyes and buried her face into his chest.

Robin let out a sigh as he felt her tears damped his shirt. Slowly, the Boy Wonder ran his hand up and down her back, trying to calm her down. There was definitely something wrong with her, but she wouldn't let him know what. What could it be, to turn someone as strong as Raven to such a scared, desperate girl? The concern inside him grew bigger and bigger by second. He didn't need to know what it was, he didn't need her to tell him about it either. But he couldn't bear to see her in so much pain because of it.

He had got it now, finally.

Why he always cared so much about her.

Why it scared him senseless whenever she was in danger.

Why it pained him to see her suffer.

"Hey, Raven?"

Upon hearing her name, the girl slowly lifted her head. And that was all Robin needed.

Gently, he pressed his lips to hers, ignoring her startled gasp and the sound of something exploding behind them. Robin smirked slightly, pressing one hand to the back of her head to support her. It was just a short kiss, as he only nipped on each of her lip for a second before pulling away. They broke apart, and Robin brought her head back to his shoulder with the utmost care. Raven was still in utter shock, unable to do anything. The whole thing was so unexpected. At first, she was going to push him away, telling him that it was not the time, and she just wasn't in the mood.

But she just couldn't.

Her hands had met his chest, but they just remained there.

She couldn't push him away.

Perhaps… it was because her heart had always longed for this?

When his lips met her, all she felt was bliss, pure bliss. And at that moment, she knew that she was safe, that she was protected, that nothing would happen anymore. For a while, she had forgotten it all, the incident with Slade, the feelings of his disgusting hands on her, the horrible visions. For that brief second, the only thing mattered to her was his very existence next to her, holding her tightly, protected her with everything he got…

But when reality caught up with her, all she could feel was fear.

Would he treat her the same way after knowing what she was?

Would he still hug her like this when knowing that she would bring the destruction of the world?

Would he spoke those caring words to her once he had discovered the truth?

Or would he hated her, resented her, called her by some loathing name and locked her up somewhere far away so she couldn't hurt anyone?

"Robin… I… I…"

She was going to tell him that she couldn't do this, that she couldn't be with him, that he needed to find another girl who was better for him, but she couldn't. The words had already formed at the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't say it.

"It's okay, Raven. It's okay." Robin whispered to her, pressing a small kiss to her chakra as his hand gently stroke the creamy skin of her cheeks. "I know you're nervous, I am too. But it's okay." He flashed her a small smile: "No matter what, I will always be here for you."

 _Even when I'm going to destroy the world?_

 _Even when I'm the spouse of Satan himself?_

 _Even when I'm going to kill everybody…_

 _Including you?_

Raven bit her lips, trying to put on her usual calm-and-collected face. She didn't want to ruin his happiness. She just nodded her head curtly before pressing her face to his chest once more, trying her best not to cry. She couldn't do that to him, not with what she would have to make him go through.

Robin gently kissed the top of her head while running his hands up and down her well-covered back. Never had he noticed that Raven was so small like this. Her body curled up like a ball in his lap, perfectly fit against his well-built frame. His smile slowly faded into a thin, firm line as he tucked her head beneath his chin. Even though Raven thought she could hide it from him, he had seen that she didn't get better only a bit, if anything, she even seemed more upset. Robin pursed his lips, letting his hand stroke her long hair as he gripped her as tightly as possible.

He didn't know why, but somehow, he got a feeling that this moment couldn't last forever, that this happiness would end shortly.

Something very bad would happen.

Something very bad involving her…

Robin gritted his teeth. He didn't know what it would be, but he didn't care either. He would protect her with all he got, to his last breath

Even if it broke him into pieces!

Raven buried her face into Robin's chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, feeling herself slowly overcame by bliss once more.

She wanted to enjoy it, the bliss, the peace, the warmth of his body pressed again hers.

Because she knew, that soon, this bliss would be broken into pieces.

Along with the world.

Along with her friends.

Along with him.

And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Because she would be the one who caused it.

 **End.**

 **Author's note:** Aghh! My hands are killing me right now!

I hope you like it. I myself pretty enjoy this fic. It turned out a bit different than what I imagined, but it's still good. (Or at least I think so :P)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to your feedbacks!


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